Welcome Home!
by Future Mrs. Scorpious Malfoy
Summary: Max moved from Virginia to California when she was nine with her father, Jeb. Now, when he gets remarried, she moves back to Virginia, and meets her old friends all over again. What will happen with one friend in particiular? Best friends, or more?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, or any other characters. I will probably forget about the disclaimer in future chapters, so if I forget, this is the one I will use. Enjoy the story!**

I dropped my bags on my new/old bed and sighed, wondering if this was a mistake.

I had just moved from California to Virginia, from living with my dad to my mom. I missed my dad a lot, but I wanted to leave certain things from my past there. I'm Max, I'm fifteen, I have longish dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Some people say I have a bad attitude.

I walked out of my old bedroom. I lived in this house until I was nine, before my Mom and Dad got divorced. Then I moved with my Dad, while my little sister, Nudge, and my older brother Iggy stayed with my Mom here in Virginia. Jeb and I moved to California, where I lived for six years. When Jeb decided to get remarried, I decided to go live with my mother and siblings in Virginia.

So, here I was, in my old bedroom, more new to me than old. The room was purple, which I would have to change. My room was the same as it was when I left, so when I got here I had gotten rid of all the stuff from my younger years and put my new stuff in. I had brought my old comforter, thankful for not having to use the old comforter with butterflies on it, and replaced it with my new one, black with white polka dots. I decided to wait until tomorrow to unpack the rest of my stuff because I was so tired. I quickly searched for my bathroom stuff and a set of pajamas. When I found them I went into the bathroom attached to my bedroom and took a quick, warm shower, got in my pajamas, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

I woke up to my bed shaking, thinking it was an earthquake.

"Max!!!! Wake up! OMG I've missed you _sooooo_ much!" said Nudge from above me. I groaned, opened my eyes, and saw Nudge's big brown eyes looking down at me.

Nudge was thirteen with big brown eyes and dark skin. My parents adopted her when she was just a baby after her father died and her mother decided she couldn't take care of her. She had curly, black hair about the same length as mine. She was a fashionista.

Iggy was over six feet tall, with light blonde hair and blue eyes. He's fifteen, too. He was my biological brother. He liked to play with fire, make bombs, and play pranks.

I rolled out of bed, and nearly hit my head on the nightstand.

"Ugh," I said, getting up and walking to my suitcases.

"So today I want to give you a make over. I know you're probably going to have to finish your room, so it would be after that. Me and Iggy can help you if you want. OMG we should all do something tonight; you, me, Iggy, Fang, Angel, and Gazzy! Well, maybe not-" babbled Nudge.

"'Kay, Nudge? Sure, you can give me a makeover. Yes, I do have to finish my room. I think I can manage my room on my own, I just have to put my clothes and a few other things away. And do they really still live here?" I asked, trying to answer all of her questions.

"Oh, yeah! They all can't wait to see you! Angel is so cute, she loves clothes and fashion, just like me! Gazzy likes to make bombs with Iggy. And Fang, well Fang is Fang. He's quiet and wears black all the time, but don't ever call him emo!" explained Nudge.

"Oh, wow. I didn't realize they still remembered," I breathed, remembering all of the things we used to do while I still lived here.

"Yup, so you better get going!" said Nudge, skipping to my door and walking out. I smiled to myself as I remembered all of my old memories of playing with my old friends. I looked out the window and saw the little kids running around the yard that used to be me and my friends.

After a little while, I decided I better finish my room. I opened my suitcases again and started taking my clothes out and hanging them in the walk in closet. After I was finished, I did my shoes, then got out the stuff that I was going to put on my wall. I picked up the picture frame with the picture of me and all of my friends back in California. I missed them, but I was looking forward to living here with my old friends, and hopefully make new ones.

I picked up a framed black and white picture of a little girl and a little boy, both close to the camera and laughing. The little boy had dark hair, and the little girl had lighter hair. I smiled and put the picture on my nightstand next to my bed.

I smiled and walked out of my room and down the hallway.

"Hey, Nudge," I said, leaning against her doorway. Nudges room was hot pink with cheetah print and looked great.

"Hi, Max, are you ready for your make over?" she asked, getting up from the floor where she was drawing. She quickly picked up the book she was drawing in and her art supplies.

"Sure," I replied, walking into her room. She directed me to sit in the chair in front of her pink vanity. When I did, she walked over with a curling iron and an arm full of make up.

Uh, oh.

After a while, Nudge finally let me look in the mirror. I gasped. The reflection in the mirror didn't even look like me! The girl in the mirror had soft dark blonde curls going past her shoulders and a little down her back. She had on eyeliner and mascara, making her eyes stand out, framed by long, dark lashes. On her cheekbones there was the smallest hint of blush. Her fingernails were painted black, but still looked elegant.

"Wow, Nudge, you're amazing!" I cried, jumping up and hugging her.

"Now for your dress!" cried Nudge, running to her closet and grabbing a dress. It was black and strapless and twisted where at the bust. The rest after that was flowy material.

"Dress? Nudge, no offense, but I'm a little too old for dress up, even though that dress is beautiful," I said, feeling the silky material.

"Just try it on," Nudge begging, handing me the dress, a strapless bra, and pushed me behind a cheetah print curtain. I changed and looked in the mirror. The dress fit me perfectly. It hung in the right places and was tighter around the right places. Nudge handed me black high heels with little flowers on them, two silver necklaces, a black ring, and a black bangle with a plastic flower on it. I put all of it on. The outfit was beautiful.

"Nudge, why are you dressing me all up?" I asked, playing with the bracelet.

"Because it has been sooo long since I saw you and I wanted to make you look great!" she said, looking through her closet. She grabbed a simple hot pink short sleeve dress, and put it on. The dress looked great on her. Then she quickly did her hair, only grabbing a small amount and pulling it back in a pink clip, and did her make up similar to mine.

"Come on, let's go down stairs," she said, tugging on my arm. I followed her, getting a little suspicious. I let her drag me to the stairs.

"I'm going to cover your eyes, okay?" Nudge asked, already putting her hands over my eyes.

"Nudge, we're on the stairs! I'm going to trip and fall to my death!" I cried, trying to move so she couldn't get my eyes. She only followed me.

"No you won't, now move!" she cried, pushing me toward the stairs. I grabbed the railing and hesitantly took my first step down the stiars. Catiously, I made my way down the stairs. I finally got to the bottom stair, when Nudge suddenly uncovered my eyes. The living room was full of people, with a large blue banner with red words, that read, "WELCOME HOME MAX!" I covered my mouth and looked at all the smiling faces. There was countless people from my younger childhood.

"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled. I covered my mouth and looked at Nudge, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Before I could even say a word, a ton of people came over and hugged me, saying things like, "I missed you so much!" and, "Oh, look at how much you've changed!"

I walked around the room, hugging people who I remembered, and some I didn't. When I was finally done hugging most of the adults, a little girl who looked about 8 years old with blonde curly hair and big blue eyes ran up and hugged me around the waist.

"Hi, Max!" she cried.

"Hi," I said, a little awkwardly, not really knowing who she was.

"Angel," yelled a deep, male voice. A guy who looked about my age walked over, with dark hair that hung over his right eye, and dark eyes.

"That's my brother, Fang," said Angel, giggling.

"It is?" I asked her, once she was done hugging me.

"Yup. Do you remember him?" asked Angel, looking up at me.

"I think I do," I told her. Just then, the guy got over to us.

"Angel, Mom is looking for you," said Fang.

"But Fang, I was talking to Max," she whined.

"Well, go tell Mom that and I'm sure you can come back and finish talking to her," said Fang to his little sister.

"Fine," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "But you stay here and make sure Max doesn't move," she said.

"Sure, just hurry, Mom wanted you to come quick," he said, giving her a small push.

"Hey," I said, a little awkwardly.

"Hey. Haven't seen you in a while," he said.

"Yeah, I haven't gotten a chance to visit. But now I'm here to stay." I said, smiling.

"Cool. You remember us? Me, Gazzy, and Angel?" he asked.

"How could I forget you guys? We hung out like every day!" I said. He chuckled.

"Yeah. I remember when you moved away and we made those little tin can phones so we could talk to each other?" asked Fang.

"Yes! I tried talking into it and got so upset when you didn't respond! I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore!" I said, recalling my first day in California.

_*Flashback*_

_I was sitting on my new bed, searching through my bag, trying to find the phone that Fang and I made. I found it and grabbed it out of the suitcase._

_ "Fang?" I called into the phone, waiting for a response. I waited, my ear pressed to the tin can, waiting for a reply._

_ "Fang, are you there?" I asked into the phone, getting upset._

_ "Fang, why won't you talk to me?" I asked, near tears. Fang was my best friend, why won't he talk to me? Is he mad that I moved away?_

_ "Fang, please talk to me!" I called into the can, tears running down my face. After waiting for a response, I threw the can across my room, curled up on my unfamiliar bed, and cried._

_*End Flashback*_

"I tried the same thing. I thought you got new friends and didn't want to talk to me!" he said.

"Hey, Max, I'm back!" called Angel, skipping over to me.

I talked to Angel and some other people for a while. I talked to Gazzy, who told me all about his bombs and what I've missed.

After a while, people started drifting home, each making me promise to catch up. After everyone was gone, I helped pick up, then went up to my room and, after washing up, drifted to sleep.

"Max, wake up, we're going shopping today!" cried Nudge.

"What?" I asked, groggily trying to rub the sleep from my eyes.

"I just went through your closet and you barely have anything! Come on, I'm taking you shopping! Mom already said it was okay!" said Nudge, grabbing my arm and pushing me into the bathroom.

I quickly stripped and took a shower. When I got out of the shower, there were a set of clothes waiting for me on the counter. There was a grey off the shoulder sweatshirt that said, "Live in Sunshine" in different colors and languages on it, an orange camisole to go under the sweatshirt, a pair of dark wash Capri's, and orange Converse. I put it all on, finished getting ready, and walked out of the bathroom. I just barely had time to grab my wallet before Nudge grabbed my arm and pulled me downstairs, to the car, and pushed me into the drivers seat before she ran around the car and got in the passenger seat. Nudge was dressed in a white tank top with blue and red flowers on it, jeans the same color blue as the flowers in the tank top, and white flats. There was also a matching purse to go with the jeans and top. It looked really cute on her.

"So, you're going to have to help me out with the directions," I said, starting the car.

"No problem," she replied, smiling evilly.

_Oh, no! _I thought.

After about six hours of shopping, I got home and collapsed on my bed. I got 26 shirts, 12 pairs of jeans, and 7 dresses. Who needs that crazy amount of clothes? I just finished putting my new clothes in my closet when Nudge declared that she would have to buy me new shoes. I sighed and decided to go outside and sit on the porch. So, I walked down stairs, grabbed my iPod touch, and walked outside. I jumped onto the railing and leaned against one of the posts. I jumped and nearly fell off the porch when a voice said, "Hey,". Not just any voice. Fang's voice. I put a hand on my heart and said, "Fang! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, but you know, it's partially your fault," he said from below me. He walked up onto the porch and sat next to me.

"How?" I asked.

"I yelled to you about five times," he replied, taking one of my earbuds and putting it in his ear. I was listening to "Breakeven" by The Script.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" he asked after a while.

"Probably painting my room, why?" I asked, my heart beating faster.

"Want help?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied.

"What color are you painting it?" he asked.

"Probably black and purple, my two favorite colors," I replied.

"I'm liking you already," he said.

**So, how do you like it? I want at least 5 reviews before I write another chapter. I know Max is a little different, at least at the party, but that was because that is the way I think she would be with a room full of people she hadn't seen in like six years. Oh, and if there is any beta out there who wants to help me, then inbox me please, because I think I need a little help with this story and another one of mine called, "Famous Ride". Read that, too, if you want to. Max is a famous singer, and so is Fang. You'll like it if you like this one, too, I think. So read and review please! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, so in this chapter Max is being a little more of herself. She's getting more comfortable and used to everyone.**

The next day, I woke up to a knocking sound. I looked around, irritated for someone disturbing my sleep, and immediately turned my head away from the window and the bright light streaming through it. Once I got used to the sunlight, I walked over to the window, dressed only in my pajamas, a long grey jersey that said WILDFOX on the top and a pair of really short shorts. I opened the window and leaned out, only to see Fang standing there.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You said you wanted to paint your room today," he replied.

"I just barely got up!" I said.

"Well, I figured since it's 10:30 in the morning that you were up," he replied. I turned to look at the clock and saw that he was right.

"Wait 10 minutes!" I replied, moving back into my room and quickly grabbing some clothes. I put on a basic white racer back tank top and a pair of green Soffe shorts. I brushed my hair and pulled it back into a pony tail and brushed my teeth. I grabbed the paint cans and all the stuff we would need for painting from my closet. Then I ran downstairs, outside, and walked over to Fang.

"Okay," I said, leading him inside. He followed, like he knew the place by heart. Well, he probably did.

We got to my room and Fang helped me move all the furniture away from the walls and cover everything in sheets.

"So I'm not even going to bother asking you what color you want," I said, handing him the black paint.

"How do you want it?" he asked, opening the can and pouring some into the little pan thing.

"Um, I was thinking these two walls black, and the other two purple," I said, pointing the walls opposite each other. Fang nodded and took the roller, beginning to paint. I did the same with the wall next to him. First we painted in silence, then we started talking. We talked about how things were while I was gone, and my life in California. We talked about our friends and told a ton of crazy stories.

After a few hours, we decided to take a break and go get something to eat. We walked to Subway, ignoring the people starring at us.

"You have purple paint on your nose," said Fang, smiling at me and taking a bite of his sandwich.

"You have black paint on your cheek," I said.

"No wonder people are looking at us like that; we are covered in paint," he said.

Once we finished eating, we walked back to my house and began painting again. About 3 hours in, I decided that it was too boring. I turned around, took a paint brush full of purple paint, and splattered him. His back and his hair had specks of purple paint in it. He grabbed his black paint brush and flung paint at me too.

"I declare war!" I yelled, running back to my paint, dipped the paint brush in, and went over to Fang. I ran around him, trailing the paint brush behind me, making a thick purple stripe around him, arms and all. Then I stood on tip toes and painted the ends of his hair purple. He surprisingly just stood there. When I finished, I realized our faces were only a few inches apart. I got off my tip toes and walked over to my wall. I turned around and saw an evil look in Fang's eyes. He dipped his paint brush into the black paint and began walking toward me. I ran around the room, hiding behind furniture, until Fang got too close. Then I would run to hide behind something else. Finally, Fang grabbed me around the waist, bringing me to his chest, and let the brush drip over my head, making big black dots in my hair. Then he let go, moved back, then put the brush on my shirt a little above my belly button. He moved around me, making a big strip of black. I glared at him, and the paint war ceased.

At about 10:00, we finally finished. We moved most of the furniture back, but there were a few wet spots, so we couldn't move all of it back. We went down stairs and Fang walked across the street to his house. I went back to my room, went to the bathroom, and ran the shower until it was warm. Then I stripped off my paint splattered clothes and stepped in. After about half an hour I decided I got as much of the paint out of my hair and off my body as I could. I turned off the shower and stepped out. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around myself. After pulling on a pair of short shorts and a tank top, I brushed my hair and hopped into my bed, exhausted.

The next day was pretty uneventful. I woke up, moved the rest of my furniture back, and hung around the house. The next day, which was Monday, I went to the mall with Nudge, Iggy, Fang, Angel, and Gazzy. In order to escape Nudge and Angel and their evil plans to make me go shoe shopping, I told them that I wanted to go to the music store with Iggy and Fang. They shot me weird looks, but once we got away from Nudge and Angel (Gazzy was in the video game store) I told them why I went with them.

"They were going to try to take me shoe shopping," I told them.

"Oh. Ha, we're lucky, we never have to go clothes shopping with those two," said Iggy. I playfully punched his arm, which he playfully rubbed, acting like it hurt.

When we got to the music store, Fang went to look at guitars and Iggy looked at the keyboards. I stood near the counter, watching them, when a guy with a white shirt that said, MUSIC CENTER on it, came over. He had dark blonde hair, hanging a little in his face, blueish green eyes, and was very tall, about 6' 3".

"Hey, can I help you with anything?" he asked.

"No, thanks, I'm just here with those two," I said, pointing toward Iggy and Fang.

"Yeah, I see them here a lot, but not you. I would remember you," he said, smiling.

"I just moved here. Iggys' actually my brother," I told him.

"Oh. What about Fang? Your boyfriend?" he asked.

"No, just a friend," I said, glancing toward the guys.

"Hmm. So what's your name?" he asked.

"Max Ride," I said.

"Dylan Walker," He replied. "So, how would you-" he began, but got inturupted by Iggy.

"Max, come here," said Iggy.

"Sorry, gotta go," I said to Dylan.

"I'll see you around," he replied. I walked over to Iggy, who asked if I wanted to go with them to get something to eat. I agreed and we all walked to the food court. We all got a pizza to share.

"God, I hate Dylan," said Iggy, after chewing a bite of pepperoni pizza.

"Why?" I asked

"He's a douche, and he treats girls really bad," he replied, taking another bite of pizza.

"Oh," I replied.

It was Friday, and I was sitting in me, Fang, and Iggy's old treehouse. It was the same as ever, and I was going through all the old stuff we had hiding in here. Comic books, pictures, markers, paper, books, and old snacks. Iggy told me that no one had been in there much after I moved.

"Hey," said Fang, peeking his head up from into the tree house.

"Hey," I replied.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just looking through all this stuff," I said, showing him all the stuff in our old "secret" box.

"Remember when we used to have sleepovers up here?" asked Fang, looking at an old picture of him, Iggy, and I in our sleeping bags up here.

"Yes, we would go and watch a movie inside, then come up here and sleep," I replied, remembering how we used to do that almost every weekend.

"We should do that again," he said.

"We should," I replied.

"How about tonight?" he asked.

"I think Iggy is at a friends house tonight," I said, remembering him talking about going over to Trevor's house.

"Then you and me can do it," he replied, looking at more pictures.

"Sure," I replied. After that Fang and I walked to Blockbuster and rented three horror movies, then went to the store and got a ton of junk food.

At eight we sat in front of the TV in my room and watched the movies. First we watched Quarantine (a zombie movie, which was hilarious!), then Halloween, and then The Orphan. None of them were that scary, the only scary part was the girls face in The Orphan. Most of it we laughed through. Then we went outside with our sleeping bags and went to sleep. Well, after talking until about three in the morning.

When I woke up in the morning, it was very bright. I turned my head to see Fang watching me.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, you're finally awake," he said. _Sleeping beauty? Did he really think I was beautiful?_ I thought.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"About eleven. We better get up before Iggy finds us and decides to murder me," he said.

"Eleven? And why would he murder you?" I asked.

"He's very protective of you," he said, gathering his stuff. I did the same.

"Oh, yeah. Sometimes it seems like he's _too _protective," I replied.

"He's your big brother, that's how he's supposed to be. And he hasn't seen you in like six years; he really loves you." Said Fang.

"Wow. I think that's the longest you have ever talked," I said laughing. We finished gathering our stuff, then went down the ladder of the treehouse. I made Fang give me a piggy back ride back, because I was still tired.

"Did you two just get up?" asked Iggy, walking outside.

"Yeah," I said, yawning and sliding off Fang's back.

Iggy mumbled something about lazy asses.

"I heard that!" I called, walking to the back door. I said goodbye to Fang as he walked to his house.

"MAX!" I heard Nudge and Angel yell to me. I walked upstairs to Nudge's room, where she and Angel were already dressed.

"We went shopping yesterday and bought some stuff for you," said Angel, walking over to four bags by the closet. She held them out to me, and before I could take them, Nudge grabbed them and shoved me behind her curtain thing. She tossed me a shirt and a pair of jeans. I tried them on, showed Angel and Nudge, and repeated the process about ten more times. Then Angel threw something that wasn't a shirt, dress, or jeans at me.

"You bought me a bikini?" I screeched.

"Yes, because it _is _summer, and we _do _have a pool, and you only have one, and it isn't very cute," said Nudge. I couldn't decide whether to go strangle her, try the bikini on and listen to her, or wonder how she seemed to know every piece of clothing I had.

"Just try it on, Max," said Nudge. I did as she said and tried the damn thing on. It was black with a big white skull on one side of the top, and little white skulls on the band on the bottom.

"Is it on?" They asked.

"Yes, evil demons, the damned thing is on," I replied.

"So come out then," said Nudge.

I sighed and came out from behind the curtain. Nudge gasped and Angel clapped her hands.

"Max, you look hot!" said Nudge, laughing and squealing. I sighed, went back behind the curtain, and changed back into my regular clothes.

"Now let's go swimming! Angel, you can go get your brothers and invite them over when you get your swimsuit," said Nudge, shoving me behind the curtain and telling me to change back. I did as she told me (it's those damn bambi eyes!) and stepped out from the curtain, grabbed my clothes, and brought them to my room. I grabbed a towel from the closet and ran into Nudge on my way.

Nudge was already wearing her bathing suit, a light pink one piece with brighter pink butterflies on it, and on the sides there was a cut out oval.

"Don't you think about not going in that pool, missy!" said Nudge, pushing on my bear back.

"Nudge, this is ridiculous. I don't like this thing, I don't care what you say!" I said, trying to get away from her as she pushed me down the stairs, one step at a time. She continued pushing me until we got outside, and then she walked around me and jumped into the pool. I caught Fang's eye and he smiled at me.

**Fang's POV: **

Max was pushed out of the house by Nudge. She was wearing a black bikini with white skulls on it. I think I nearly started drooling.

**A/N: Yeah, so Fang is thinking Max is hot. I don't know how soon I will update again, because on Monday I go back to school from Spring Break. Oh well. I never did get ten reviews, anyway. Hopefully I will after I post this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

I think today someone decided it was torture and embarrass Max day. That would explain sooooo much.

I was shoved with a surprising amount of force from Nudge outside to the pool. And I was in the black bikini that she forced me in. Everyone was already in the pool, unfortunately, so when I was shoved out of the door and with Nudge's yelling, all the attention turned to us. Normally I wouldn't be _as _embarrassed, but like I said before, I was in a bikini. I saw Fang, and I think my jaw nearly dropped. He wasn't wearing a shirt, obviously because he was in the pool, and he had a six pack, and his arms were more muscular than I thought.

Nudge continued pushing me until we got to the pools edge, where I jumped in. Nudge followed me, and then Gazzy splashed me. I splashed him back, and soon all of us were in a huge splash fight. It was more me and Fang against Iggy and the younger kids, and after about an hour, it was declared that Fang and I won. We made all the others go in the house and make us cookies while Fang and I stayed in the pool. They surprisingly agreed.

About half an hour later I yelled out to Iggy and the younger kids in the house. I swam to the edge of the pool, put my hands on the ledge, and pulled myself up. After grabbing my towel, I walked over to the door and jiggled the handle.

"Damn it!" I said. I heard Fang get out of the pool behind me and walk over.

"What is it?" he asked, grabbing a towel off a nearby chair and walking over. I just angrily pointed to the door. He tried turning the door knob, but it didn't budge. He walked to the other side of the house to try the front door. That, too, was locked. So then I tried to go through a window, but they were all closed and locked, because the air conditioners were on.

"Ugh, I really wanted those cookies," I said, depressed, sitting on the ground.

"You're locked out of your house, in only a bikini, and you're worried about _cookies?_" asked Fang, smirking.

"Yes! I want those damn cookies!" I exclaimed, getting up and pacing.

"Come on," said Fang, getting up and grabbing my hand, and leading me across the street to his house. He continued leading me into the house, then let go of my hand and started looking around in the cupboards, getting out random stuff. Then I realized what he was doing.

"We're going to make them?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, duh," said Fang, getting out a bag of chocolate chips. I hopped off the counter and began to help him. After about ten minutes we had the dough all ready.

"We're good," I said, sticking me finger in the dough and sucking it off.

"Hey, you have to save _some _for the actual cookies, you ate most of the dough!" he said, sticking his own finger in and eating it off. I stuck my tongue out at him and threw some dough at him. Fangs eyes flashed and he smirked evilly at me. I backed away slowly, but he just kept coming, so I grabbed the bowl and hugged it to me. He still followed me so I took off running. I ran up the stairs, into Angel's room, and threw the door closed. Before it could shut all the way, Fang ran into the room with a handful of dough. I tried to run around him but he caught my around my waist with the hand that wasn't holding the dough. He took the hand with the dough and rubbed it on my stomach and face.

"Fang, no!" I squealed, but he just ignored me. He let me go once he was finished.

"Oh, you should _not _have done that," I said, and put the whole bowl on his head. I ran out of Angel's room before he could get me, out of his house, over to mine, and jumped in the pool. Fang was right behind me, without the bowl on his head. He jumped in and we both swam around a little until they unlocked the doors.

"Max, wake up! It's the Fourth of July, you have to get ready for the party!" someone yelled, while they jumped on my bed. I rolled over so I was lying on my stomach when someone else came in my room.

"Angel, come on, leave Max alone," said Fang.

"But she has to get ready. Nudge and I are going to fix her up for the party," said Angel, jumping on my bed once again. I sighed and put the pillow over my head.

"Come on, Angel," he said, coming over to the bed and picking her up. He carried her out of the room and shut the door. Then he came back over to the bed and started shaking me.

"Max, Angel is right, you do have to get up," said Fang quietly.

"No," was all I said, and then rolled over on my side so I wasn't facing him.

"Max, I was paid to get you out of bed, so one way or another, you are getting out of bed," said Fang, evilly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, turning yet again so I was facing him.

"Your mom is having a party for the Fourth and needed help, so she asked us," he said. "Now get your lazy ass up."

I didn't move, so Fang grabbed my covers, pulled them off of me, grabbed me around the waist, and picked me up like a sack of potatoes.

"FANG!" I shrieked, starting to pound on his back. It had no affect on him as he carried me out of my room and into Nudge's.

"Here," he said, putting me down.

"Thank you, Fang," said Nudge, taking a five dollar bill out of her wallet and handing it to him. He walked out while I shouted "TRAITOR!" at him.

"Good morning, Max," Nudge said evilly, guiding me to the chair to her vanity. She came at me with a curling iron and the rest was a blur.

About an hour later, Nudge turned me around to face the mirror. I was wearing a black, red, and cream colored plaid dress with criss crossing spaghetti straps, black flats, and black heart shaped earrings, my black peace sign bracelet, and a ring that said love on it. My hair was pin straight. My eyes were framed by thick lashes and a little eyeliner, and my face was blemish free.

"Nudge, I look great!" I said, getting up and hugging her. Nudge was wearing a halter top brown dress with teal, red, yellow, and orange zigzagging designs on it. She wore gold hoop earrings, a set of bracelets that matched the dress perfectly, and brown shoes with a design on them. Her hair was curly, but not as wildly curly as it usually was. She looked amazing.

"Awwww, your welcome; I just wanted you to look great," said Nudge, letting me go. I walked out of her room and down to the kitchen, where my mom was frosting red, white, and blue cupcakes.

"Hey, Mom, need help?" I asked, grabbing a bag of red frosting.

"Hi, honey. Oh, you look beautiful! Did Nudge do that? I would have you help, but I don't want you to get your beautiful dress all dirty." Said my mother.

"Thank you. Yes Nudge did it, and I really don't mind helping, I'll put an apron on or something," I said, walking over to the hook where she kept the aprons. I grabbed one and put it on, and then started frosting a chocolate cupcake.

After a few minutes, Fang walked in. He looked up at me and started laughing. I shot him the bird, and he took out him iPhone, took a picture of me, and then walked out. I threw off my apron and chased after him. I hid behind a couch and waited for him to walk past. When he did, I tackled him. I quickly straddled him before he could throw me off.

"What the hell, Max," he said, as I searched his pockets.

"Delete it!" I growled.

"Delete what?" he asked innocently.

"You know what!" I said, hitting his chest.

He paused, rubbed the spot where I hit him, and said, "You look good," almost as if it were a question.

I blushed, and started to look for the phone again.

"Where did you put it?" I yelled.

"Max, if you don't get off me, I will tickle you," Fang said in a warning voice.

"Will not," I said. Fang grabbed me by the waist and rolled over so he was on top of me.

"Really?" He asked, straddling me.

"FANG GET OFF ME!" I yelled.

"You're in for it now, Max," he said tauntingly. He began tickling my stomach.

"Stop Fang," I giggled. He kept tickling me until Iggy walked by and said, "Dude, what are you doing to my sister?"

Fang quickly got off me and held out a hand towards me to help me up. I got up and smacked Fang on the side of his head.

After a while, people started coming. It was actually more like two parties, one for the adults, where they talked and ate, and the other for us, with most of Me, Nudge, Iggy, and Fang's friends. There was music, dancing, and food. I didn't recognize most of the people, but Dylan came up to me about halfway through the party.

"Hey Max," he said.

"Hi Dylan, what's up?" I replied.

"Not much, but it's getting kind of buggy, do you want to go inside?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, looking back toward Iggy and Fang, trying to remember what they told me about him. I followed him into the house, where there were a few adults mulling around, but no one else.

"So, how about you give me the grand tour," he suggested.

"Sure," I replied. I showed him around the downstairs, then the upstairs. When we got to my room, he pushed me against the wall.

"Dylan, what the hell are you doing?" I asked. He started kissing me, and I tried pushing him away, but he grabbed my hands. I couldn't move, so I tried yelling. Dylan put a hand over my mouth, but I bit it. He began kissing me again, pulling the straps of my dress lower on my shoulders. I whimpered just as the door opened. Fang came in, looking angrier than I've ever seen him. He walked over and punched Dylan right in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, and I ran over to Fang. He pulled me into a hug and asked if I was okay. I nodded and tried not to cry.

My mother and Iggy came running up the stairs and saw Dylan standing there with blood all over his face and shirt. Then they saw me and Fang, and my mother said, "Dylan, I think you better leave before we decide to press charges,"

Fang led me to the bed and sat down, and I sat next to him. Fang hugged me to him and told me it would be alright, Dylan was gone, etc. After I calmed down and changed, Fang and I went downstairs and we watched the fireworks with everyone. I thought that Iggy said something about me wanting to be left alone, because surprisingly I wasn't mobbed when Fang and I came downstairs. Instead my friends shot me sympathetic glances. I stayed with Fang most of the night, and we were both pretty quiet. I could tell Fang was upset and wanted to go beat Dylan up, but was staying with me.

After the fireworks, we all went inside and got in our pajamas. Fang, Angel, and Gazzy were sleeping over, so we all decided to sleep in my room, because it was the biggest. We all planned to sleep on the floor, but there was no room for all of us, so I slept on my bed. At about midnight, about an hour after we went to bed, I looked over and saw Fang looking at me.

"Can't sleep?" he asked. I nodded and asked him if he would sleep next to me. He silently got on the bed next to me. I fell asleep soon after that.

I woke up to giggling and a bright light. I opened my eyes in time to see Angel hiding a camera behind her back.

"Angel, what are you doing?" I asked groggily. She giggled and just pointed to the bed. Then I realized that my head was tucked under Fang's, and Fang had his arms around my waist.

"Taking a picture because you guys are really cute," she said. Fang was waking up just in time for him to hear the end, then let go of my waist and rolled off the bed and picked Angel up.

"Angel, what do you have?" he asked sweetly.

"Nothing," she said innocently. Fang grabbed the camera that was still behind her back.

"What's this then?" he asked.

"Oh, that's just my camera," she said. I laughed.

"I think I'm going to borrow your camera, if you don't mind," he said, hitting the review button, and then deleting the picture. Angel looked really sad, but I didn't say anything. Fang put her back down and soon Iggy yelled that it was breakfast and the day went by quickly.

**A/N: Sooooo sorry for the long wait. I had graduation and so much going on. Now that it's summer I will try to update at least once a week. Tell me if you think it is going too quickly. Please review; I'm getting kind of depressed because of the lack of reviews. Thanks! **** :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, my God, Max, you have to come to the mall with me! Sam's party is in just two days and we need to get you an outfit to wear. Since you're new, you probably don't know about him, but he has the most epic parties ever. It's sort of dressy, though, so we have to get you either a dress or a skirt. And I can't wait to find an outfit for me! OMG you and Fang should totally go together! You are sooo cute, especially when you guys were sleeping, and it's sooo sweet of him to save you from Dylan-" I cut Nudge off by slapping a hand over her mouth. She gave me those damn bambi eyes (you can't resist them!) and then we were off to the mall.

When we got out of our mother's Jeep Liberty, Nudge pushed me into the mall and I didn't even have time to see the name of the store. I was forced into a dressing room while Nudge threw tons of dresses, tops, and skirts over the door for me to try on. Then when she saw all of the clothes I tried on, she went into her own dressing room and modeled all of her own clothes for me. Then there was one dress (which was short enough to look like a shirt, at least on her) that she had me try on. I put it on and modeled it for Nudge. It was grey and white striped, with black flowers across part of the chest, and a black belt that went around my hips. It went about mid thigh, maybe an inch or two higher. I had to admit it looked pretty good on me. Nudge squealed, insisted we buy it, then made me try on knee high boots with it, too. It looked good together, but I hated the boots.

"You have to admit, it looks good," Nudge said.

"Nudge, I look like I belong on a street corner!" I screeched, making a few people turn their heads. A guy looked over and winked at me. I shot him the bird.

After I changed into my street clothes, we went to a couple more stores to find Nudge's outfit. I sneakily bought a pair of black Converse that I planned to wear with the dress, but Nudge found them. So then I bought a pair of black strappy wedges that I was going to wear with the dress instead of the hooker boots.

Nudge finally settled on a strapless dress with a white top with a black belt under the bust, and blue, pink, and yellow stripes on the bottom. After finding her shoes (white wedges) we went home.

After being kidnapped by Nudge, who did my make up and straightened my hair, we were off to Sam's house. Nudge was going with friends, and Iggy had a date, so Fang and I were riding together.

"You have the shoes?" I asked, throwing myself into the passenger seat of Fang's black Audi R8.

"Yeah, they're in the back. Nice to see you too, by the way," he said, raising an eyebrow at my outfit.

"Nudge forced me," I explained, unzipping the hooker boots and throwing them in the back. I turned around and grabbed the wedges while Fang backed out of my driveway. I turned back around and slipped them on.

"Can you believe Nudge confiscated all of my Converse?" I asked, buckling up. Fang chuckled, and I turned toward him and noticed his outfit.

"Oh, my God, you're dressed up," I said, smirking at his black button up shirt, jeans, and Converse.

"Shut up," he said. It almost looked like he was blushing, but I must have been imagining it.

"I'm kidding, Fang. You look good," I said, feeling slightly bad. This caused him to blush more.

"You do too," he mumbled.

"So where does Sam live?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Right near the lake on the lake. There's usually music and a bon fire, and some people go swimming." He explained.

We pulled up to a giant house and Fang shut off the engine and got out. Before I could open the door, he was there, opening my door for me. I blushed and got out.

"Holy crap, he has a big house!" I said, as I looked up at the mansion in front of me. It was white with maybe three stories, a long winding driveway, and a perfectly manicured lawn.

Fang led me to the back, where the rest of the party was. A lot of people starred at me, which was a little annoying. We caught up with Nudge and her friends, and Iggy and his date, Ella. She had long black hair, big brown eyes, and looked Hispanic. I gave Iggy my approval, which made him started blushing and mumbling. I laughed and went and danced with Nudge and her friends for a while.

Iggy and Fang came over, and somehow we started talking about dancing. Nudge told them I was pretty good, and Iggy decided I was going to have a dance off against someone. Iggy picked Fang.

"So, Fang, are you brave enough to rival my amazing dance skills?" I said, smirking.

"You bet," He said, just as a new song came on. I recognized it and smirked. It was OMG by Usher.

I grabbed Fang's hand and led him over to where people were dancing. I started dancing and Fang smirked and danced, too. He was surprisingly good. People were starting to crowd around us. When the song was done, people started cheering.

"So, who won?" I asked Nudge.

"I'm going to have to say you did, Max," replied Nudge.

"YES!" I said, jumping up and down and stuck my tongue out at Fang. He chuckled and led us over to the bonfire. There were a few people there, and again, they starred.

"Do they always stare like that?" I muttered to Fang.

"You're new, and you obviously have an attitude," said Fang, causing me to hit him. Suddenly Fang straightened up, grabbed my hand, and led me toward the dock.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking up at Fang.

"Dylan is here," he said, and I shuddered.

"That sucks, I wanted to dance," I complained, trying to lighten the mood. I noticed Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade came on in the background.

"You still can," he said, putting his hands on my hips. I put mine around his neck and we danced.

After the song ended and we noticed Dylan was gone, we went back to our friends and talked. After a while, we decided to go home. Nudge was sleeping over at a friend's house, and Iggy had to bring Ella home, so I rode with Fang again. When we got home, I walked over to my house after saying goodbye to Fang. I fell asleep quickly after that.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX!" I heard someone yell.

I groggily opened my eyes and looked around. Angel, Nudge, Iggy, and Fang were all surrounding me. I smiled at them and went to get up.

"Thanks, guys," I said, as I got up and hugged all of them. They all hugged me back, even Fang.

"Now let's let Max get dressed before breakfast," said Nudge, skipping out of my room. I smiled, went to my closet, and got out a blue stripped shirt, a pair of jean shorts, a pair of Converse, and a bracelet, necklace, and earrings. I quickly put them on, then ran downstairs. On the table was a pile of presents. Surrounding the table was my mom, dad, Nudge, Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, Angel, and their parents. I went and hugged my father. My mother came up to me, gave me a hug, and handed me a small box. I opened it and there were a set of keys in there.

"Oh, my God! Is this for…?" I asked, hugging her and my dad.

"Go look in the driveway," they said, shooing me. Everyone followed me as I ran outside. There, sitting in the driveway, was a sleek, black Porsche 911 Turbo with a big red bow sitting on it.

"Oh, my God, I love it!" I said, hugging both my parents.

"My turn!" yelled Nudge, skipping back into the house. She handed me a small bag and I opened it. There was a $25.00 gift certificate to Hot Topic and a pretty silver heart necklace with rhinestones on the side. Iggy gave me a couple CD's, Gazzy gave me a bomb, and Angel gave me that picture of me and Fang sleeping, framed in an orange handmade frame. I picked her up and gave her a huge hug, then Fang handed me a small box. I opened it up and in it were two backstage tickets for a Paramore concert.

"Oh, my God, Fang, these are amazing, I love it!" I said, jumping up and giving him a hug.

"You have to come with me!" I said to him. He smiled and agreed. After I finished with presents and we ate, everyone took me to a water park. We went on a ton of rides, and I was carried around by Iggy and Fang a lot because I made them. When we got home, I went in my room and listened to my new CD's with Fang. We were talking about music and suddenly Fang said, "Sing."

"What?" I asked.

"Iggy told me you could sing. I want to hear you," explained Fang.

"I-I don't want to sing," I said, shifting in the bean bag chair I was sprawled out on.

"Well, I want you too," he replied, smirking.

"I'm the birthday girl and I say no," I replied, yawning. Suddenly my phone started ringing, so I moved my legs from Fang's lap and got up and got it. The text said it was from an unknown number, and it said hey. I replied back and asked Fang if he knew the number.

"Yeah, that's Sam's number I think," he replied, looking confused. Just then my ringtone went off again, "Misery" by Maroon 5. I quickly grabbed the phone from Fang, and looked at the screen. "do u wanna go out sometime?' was what he replied back.

While I was reading the text, Fang grabbed my ankles and pulled on them, so I was sitting in his lap, and tried to grab my phone. I quickly moved it out of reach, but he just rolled off of the bean bag chair so he was hovering over me and tried to grab my phone. I threw it in front of me, and speedily crawled out from under him and grabbed it. Before he could catch up I quickly tried to text Sam, but Fang grabbed the phone from me. When he read it his face turned unreadable. He tossed me the phone back and sat back on the bean bag chair. My face was probably really red, and I quickly replied to Sam.

"So what did you say?" he asked with a blank face.

"I said no," I mumbled.

"Oh," he replied. After that it was kind of awkward until it got really hot in my room. So I got up and turned the air conditioner on and on my way back accidentally tripped on a cord. I began to fall when two strong arms wrapped around my waist. Instead of hitting the floor, I was practically sitting in Fang's lap now. I looked up at him and his dark eyes that I could usually read so well were unreadable. His face was only about an inch from my own. Before I could even think about anything, Fang's lips pressed against my own. It was only a slight brush, but it was enough to send a shock through me.

I backed off the couch and touched my lips, shocked.

"I have to go," Fang blurted, and jumped off the bean bag and walked away quickly. My face felt like it was a million degrees, but why did I feel like I wanted to do it again?

**Fang POV:**

I ran out of Max's room and ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. What did I just do? Max doesn't like me like that, even if I like her.

Ugh, I really want to do that again.

**A/N: Yay! Fang is finally realizing his feelings for Max and vice versa. Sorry for the long wait, I've been on vacation. Oh, and I'm going to post the links from the previous chapters on them. Here are the links for this chapter, just replace the (dot) with a period:**

**Max's Party Outfit: (dot)com/maxs_party_outfit_chapter/set?id=20575345**

**Nudge's Outfit: (dot)com/nudges_party_outfit_chapter/set?id=20868453**

**Max's Birthday Outfit:**

**(dot)com/max_welcome_home/set?id=20591866**


	5. Chapter 5

BOOM!

"Iggy!" I yelled. I started to smell smoke so I ran to Iggy's room, where the smoke was coming from. I opened the door to see a huge hole in the floor, a fire on the right side of the room, and Iggy looking shocked on the left side.

"Come on!" I yelled. The fire was too big to try to put out with water, so I pushed Iggy out of the room and grabbed the fire extinguisher. I followed the instructions and sprayed the fire. After the extinguisher was out, the fire was still going. I ran out and pushed Iggy toward the stairs, who was standing behind me in shock. He seemed to snap to attention and started to yell at me to get out while I was trying to get buckets of water to throw on the fire. I shook him off and continued, but then Iggy picked me up and started going down the stairs. We got outside and he let go of me. Iggy took out his cell phone, dialed 911, and then called our mom.

"Oh, my God, Total!" I yelled, remembering our pet dog inside.

"Max, no!" Iggy yelled, but the sound was deafened by the fire.

**Fang's POV:**

I was listening to music, trying to calm down after the incident with Max. My iPod then turned to a song I didn't care to listen to right now. It was one Max downloaded for me, some Paramore one. I walked over to my iPod dock, switched the song, and happened to look out the window. The Ride's house was on fire and Iggy was outside, trying to find a way in.

My heart stopped beating for a second. _Where's Max?_ I ran downstairs, outside, and over to the Ride's.

"Iggy!" I yelled.

"Man, Max went in! I can't get to her!" he yelled, grabbing my shirt.

"Stay here," I yelled over the fire. I ran into the house without a second thought. I looked around and saw most of the right side of the house on fire. I yelled Max's name, and I thought I heard a faint noise coming from the stairs. I ran to them to see Max, holding Total in one arm, the other trapped under the fallen railing to the stairs, along with her legs. I ran over to her and carefully lifted the railing off her. She got up slowly and grabbed my hand. I carried her out of the house, and into one of the awaiting ambulances.

**Max's POV:**

I ran into the house and looked around. It was hard to see because of all the smoke, and after a little while, my eyes and throat were burning. I thought I heard barking coming from upstairs, so I ran upstairs and saw Total stuck in between two beams. I quickly snatched him up and ran downstairs. About halfway down I heard a snap and the railing fell towards me. I tried to move, but it still fell on my left wrist and my legs. I tried, but I couldn't lift it off. My eyes were starting to burn, and I thought I heard a crack. I tried moving my wrist, to no avail. I closed my eyes to stop the burning and drifted off a little.

After a few minutes, I thought I heard someone call my name. I opened my eyes and started yelling. About thirty seconds later Fang appeared in front of me. He moved the railing off me and picked me up. He carried me out of the house and into an ambulance. They put an oxygen mask on me and I closed my eyes and drifted off.

After what seemed like only a few minutes I opened my eyes to see a bright light. I realized quickly I was lying in a hospital bed. My mother was there, along with Iggy, Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Fang. I looked around and noticed my mom with red, puffy eyes. I grabbed her hand and she smiled at me. My left wrist was in a black cast, and my right ankle was wrapped up. Fang had a few scratches that I could see. Iggy had a bandage on his forehead.

"So, when can I get out of here?" I asked, scratching my head. Everyone laughed and pretty soon I was checked out of the hospital.

So apparently we are staying with Fang's family. Big problems though, starting with nine people living in a house with six beds. So we (or more like the parents) decided my mom would be sleeping on the couch, I would sleep on the couch in Fang's room, Iggy and Nudge would be sleeping in the spare set of bunk beds in Angel's room.

The only rooms that were totally destroyed were Iggy's, the living room, the downstairs bathroom, and the kitchen. The clothes in mine and Nudge's rooms were salvageable, so after we got back from the hospital, we quickly went and tried to salvage as much as we could. I got three suitcases worth of clothes and other necessities, and Nudge tried to pack her whole room before we finally convinced her she only need a couple weeks worth of clothes and we could come back whenever we needed. She finally packed about seven suitcases and we could leave. The whole time Iggy kept apologizing for the fire, and we finally got him to stop.

I was unfortunately confined to crutches. My ankle was badly sprained and with my wrist in a cast, I couldn't help much with packing, so my mom had to do most of it for me, thankfully I got to tell her what to pack.

"This sucks. How am I going to get ready for the first day of school next week when there are three bathrooms and nine people? This is a complete disaster? And who's going to share a bathroom with me? I refuse to share with Iggy or Fang, because well, they're guys. I-" Nudge began, before I slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Okay, then the adults will share a bathroom, Nudge will share with Angel and Gazzy, and I will share with Iggy and Fang," I said, solving the problem. After a while we had dinner and went to bed.

_"Hey, Max, here to visit your dad?" asked Mr. Stevenson, one of my dad's co-workers. I was in my dad's office, waiting for him to get back from a meeting. My dad was a scientist for some big corporation called ITEX. I was about eight at the time, thirteen at the time and was going to surprise my dad with a visit since I hadn't seen him for a couple days. _

_ "Yeah, I'm just visiting for a little while. Do you know when he gets back from his meeting?" I asked._

_ "You know, I'm not sure, but I can take you to where they are having the meeting. Come on, I'll show you," he said, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the office. After going through countless hallways, he opened a door for me. I went in first, and it was dark. Then I felt a pinch and a sting in my back and everything went black._

_ I opened my eyes to a white room. It was pretty plain except for the silver gleaming counter tops, with a sink, cabinets, and few other things. I was lying on a silver table with my wrists and ankles bound. I looked at the table around me and saw reddish brown stains. Blood. I started screaming, and then the door opened. _

_ "Mr. Stevenson, please help me! I don't know how I got here," I cried, trying to get my wrists unbound. _

_ "Well, I do; I put you in here," he said, going over to the cabinets and taking something out. It was a tray of gleaming silver instruments, and a couple of needles. I started whimpering, begging him to let me out. He just sat in front of me, took one of the instruments, and started cutting. I screamed as I saw the blood flow out of the wound freely. _

_ "We can't have you drawing attention to us, can we?" he asked, holding up a needle, and then injecting it into me. For the second time that day, everything went black._

"Max, Max, wake up, it's just a dream," said Fang from the side of me. I turned and looked at him. His eyes looked worried.

I tried to turn my head so he wouldn't see the tears, but it was too late. He grabbed my chin and looked at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"N-nothing," I stuttered. "Just a nightmare."

"Max, you were screaming," he said.

"You don't want to know," he murmured. He sighed and sat on the other side of the pull out bed I was lying on.

"Well, I had a dream about something that happened back in California," I told him. Then I told him the dream.

"So after he was done, he swore that if I ever told my dad, he would kill him. After that I was sick for about a month, and I had to tell my dad it was probably just the flu or something," I finished, tears running down my cheeks. Dammit, no one sees Maximum Ride cry!

Fang hugged me and asked if I had the dreams often. I nodded and told him almost every night. He told me to go back to sleep, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep, with Fang right there next to me.

When I woke up the next morning (to an annoying alarm clock no less) Fang's arms were around me.

"Fang, lemme go," I said quietly, trying and failing to get out of his grip. In response, he tightened his grip on my waist.

"Fang, it's the first day of school, we have to get ready," I tried again.

"Noooo," he said, still asleep.

"Fang, I know your ticklish spot," I said. When he didn't move I tazzered him in his sides, quite an accomplishment considering he was lying on his side. He immediately woke up.

"G'morning," he murmured, still waking up. He smiled at me and I started blushing, just noticing that our faces were only inches away.

"Morning," I replied.

"We should probably get up, considering we have school," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed, neither of us moving.

"Max, Fang, come on! I hope you too aren't still sleeping!" yelled Fang's mother, Mrs. Capelli. We both immediately jumped away from each other and yelled down to her.

Fang and I had previously agreed that I would take a shower in the morning and he would take one at night. Iggy took one after Fang because there wouldn't be time in the morning. So, I went and took a quick shower, got dressed, and finished getting ready. Fang, who was eating breakfast, saw me and went to get ready.

"OMG Max, I love your outfit! I never knew you had that good of fashion sense, but I guess I was wrong. I'm surprised your not wearing your usual black that you wore while you where in California-" Nudge said when she came down, before I put my hand over her mouth to stop the rambling.

"Thanks, I guess?" I said, and removed my hand.

"No one ever lets me finish a sentence," she pouted.

Once we were all ready for school, Fang drove Nudge, Iggy and I to our high school, and Fang's mom dropped Angel and Gazzy off at their school. Fang refuse to let me drive because of my wrist and ankle.

Once we got there, Fang and I went to the office to get my schedule and everything, since I was new. Unfortunately, Dylan was there, too. Fang glared at him the whole time while I got my papers and thanked the woman at the desk. I grabbed Fang's arm and practically had to drag him out of the office. Once out, we compared schedules with everyone. I had five classes with Fang, three with Nudge, and three with Iggy.

"That's weird that I got so many classes with you guys," I said, looking at my schedule again.

"I guess you're just lucky," Fang said, smirking. I punched his shoulder with my good arm and continued walking (with the horrible crutches) to my first class. It was English, so Fang helped me find the right room. Once in, Fang and I sat in desks next to each other. We started talking about the fire and when the house would be repaired, when some dumb, tall, fake looking redhead came and sat on Fang's desk and cut me off.

"Hi, Fangy-poo, I haven't seen you _all _summer; I've missed you," she said, trying to sound seductive but ended up sounding whiny and nasally. Fang had on that blank face, but I could tell he was annoyed.

"Uh, excuse me? Yeah, we were in the middle of a conversation," I said, talking slowly so she would understand the big words I was using. (Note the sarcasm)

She completely ignored her, and tried to move out of her reach as she tried to put a hand on his chest.

"Class is going to start soon, you should sit down," he said. I snickered at his polite attempt to get rid of her. The Red Haired Wonder (my new nickname for her) turned and tried to glare at me. Didn't work out so well for her because her orange skin made my snickering turn to full out laughing.

"I don't know who you are or what you're laughing about, bitch, but I would shut up if I were you. I'm the queen bee around here, so why don't you get your white trash, ugly ass, bottle blonde out of here before someone gets hurt." She said, sliding off the Fang's desk.

I stood up as well, the best I could without using my crutches. I was pissed, and Fang could tell.

"Ohh, fake, huh? I wouldn't be talking if I were you. What's the name of the crayon you got all over yourself, orangutan orange? Or did your parents think you were mature enough for markers? Next time, maybe you shouldn't play in your mommy's make up, because you look like a clown," I said, taking a tissue from the tissue box next to me. I whipped it all over her face, completely messing up her make up. She shrieked and ran out of the room. Fang and I high fived, and the day went on pretty normally after that. Well, besides the people staring at me.

When we got to Fang's house I collapsed on the couch in the living room and fell asleep. Well, until someone was stupid enough to stick a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie right under my nose. Without opening my eyes, I leaned over and bit it, and accidentally bit someone's finger, too.

"Shit, Max!" yelled Iggy. I opened my eyes, swung my legs off the couch, and walked over to the cookies. I grabbed the pan, and before anyone could stop me, I carried the pan to Fang's room, quite a feat for someone with a broken wrist and crutches.

I walked into Fang's room carrying the cookies. Fang looked up from his perch on his bed, doing homework and chuckled.

"Shit, I forgot milk," I sighed.

"How about I go get you milk if you share the cookies with me?" Fang asked. I nodded reluctantly and Fang went downstairs. I quickly ate as many cookies as I could while Fang was gone. When he came back there were two cookies on the tray.

"Really, Max?" he asked, setting a glass of milk down in front of me. I gulped some down, and then replied.

"Yup."

**A/N: So sorry for the longish wait. I have summer homework, can you believe it? Research, read two boring books, and write three essays, all before school starts, which is in a week. I got the assignment right after school ended, but still, summer homework=not fun. I still have half a book to read and two essays to write, wish me luck. Also, since school is starting soon, I can't promise as many updates as you (or I) would like. I'm just starting high school, am in three accelerated classes, and am thinking about doing a sport, so I won't have a lot of free time. I hope to get two chapters up a month, but again, I'm not so sure how that will work out. I'm trying to write long chapters for my stories before school starts so it won't be too much of a wait or anything. Not sure if that makes sense, but whatever.**

**I wasn't sure how people would like Max's dream or that little confession of hers. I think it was pretty crappy, but I really wanted her to have a little piece of her past come back and haunt her from California (not like it was her fault, though.) Tell me what you think, and if most of you don't like it, I'll rewrite the chapter. Too cliché? Review and tell me what you think! **


	6. Chapter 6

"Max, hurry up! We're going to be late!" Iggy yelled from downstairs. I sighed and grabbed a wad of money from Fang's dresser and grabbed my school sweatshirt, pulling it over my head before carefully making my way downstairs. I had just gotten the okay from the doctor to stop using the crutches, but my ankle was still sore. I got downstairs and Iggy, Fang and I got in Fang's car. We were on our way to the first football game of the season. Once we got there, Fang got out, helped me out, and we made our way to the stadium. We paid and immediately found some of our friends.

"Hey, baby, how's the wrist?" Tommy said, putting his arms around my waist.

"About ready to punch you if you don't move your hands, Moore," I replied, causing everyone to laugh.

"That's very hurtful, you know; I'm hurt," he replied, removing his hands from my waist and putting one over his heart, hanging his head.

"Oh, my God, Max, guess who is here," Elizabeth said, pulling me aside.

"Ummm, Daniel?" I asked.

"How did you know?" she gasped. I laughed and replied, "Because that's who you've been talking about almost none stop."

"Max, will you come with me to talk to him, please?" she begged, I laughed and nodded. Elizabeth was one of Fang and Iggy's friends, who I shared some classes with. We got to know each other, and have become really good friends. She sometimes reminded me of a puppy; full of energy, but when she's sad it makes you sad just seeing her like that. She had blonde hair, green eyes, and was extremely thin, but in a healthy way. She played a lot of sports, and had three older brothers.

Elizabeth led me over to a group of soccer players. There were about seven guys, two with blonde hair, three with brown, and one with black, who was Asian (A/N: I really don't mean to sound racist, but I didn't know how else to describe him.)

"Hey, Daniel," Elizabeth said to a tall, brown haired guy.

"Hey, Elizabeth, what's up?" he asked.

"Not much. This is my friend, Max. She's new this year," she said, introducing me to everyone. "Max, this is James, David, Mark, Chris, Daniel, Matt, and Devin. Guys, this is Max."

"Hey," I replied, as each one of them greeted me. Elizabeth started a conversation with Daniel, and James started talking to me.

"You want a drink?" asked Chris, holding up a white plastic water bottle. I nodded and took a sip, knowing it was beer, and handed it back to him

"So, you play soccer?" he asked.

"Well I did back in California, but I couldn't really this year," I said, indicating my wrist and ankle.

"California girl, eh?" Mark asked.

"Yup, but I lived here before I moved to California," I replied.

"Nice, what's it like there?" David asked.

"Ummm, hot," I replied. Everyone laughed, except for Daniel and Elizabeth, who were off in their own little world.

**Fang's POV:**

"Dude, have you seen Ella around here?" asked Iggy.

"Nope," I replied. Iggy, our friends Jade, Dylan, Robert, Timmy, Amanda, and I were all in a little group, talking. Dylan and Robert were trying to get someone to dare them, Jade, Timmy, and Amanda were trying to think of dares, Iggy was looking for Ella, and I was watching Max. She was over with Elizabeth, talking to a group of guys. She was in the center, and they were all laughing and talking. Elizabeth and a guy, who I think was Daniel, were off kind of apart from the rest, talking and flirting. Seeing Max with those guys pissed me off, so I walked off.

**Max POV:**

"Okay, who wants to play truth or dare?" asked Mark. Everyone muttered okays, so he began.

"Max, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I replied in a "duh" tone.

"I dare you to do a back flip," he replied. I rolled my eyes, walked over to where there weren't many people, and did a back flip. When they asked me to do a couple more tricks, I did. Then I walked back over and surveyed the little group.

"Ummm, Daniel, truth or dare," I asked.

"Truth," he said.

"Pussy," James called him.

"Do you like Elizabeth?" I asked him, smirking. His started blushing and mumbling and Elizabeth starred at me with shock, shaking her head no.

"Yeah," he finally admitted.

"Really?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yeah. Want to go out some time?" he asked. She nodded her head.

After a round, we got back to me.

"Max, truth or dare?" asked James.

"Dare," I replied again.

"I dare you to kiss me," he said, smirking. I rolled my eyes and took a couple steps closer to him. I leaned my head up and he bent down and kissed me. Our lips moved in sync, but after about 45 seconds I pulled away.

We continued our game of truth or dare, and drinking for a while before I decided to go find Fang. I walked around the stadium until I finally found him leaning against the stands.

"Hey, Fang," I said, leaning next to him.

"Max, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" I replied.

"A-are you _drunk_?" he asked.

"No, I'm just a little buzzed, Fangy," I replied, trying to keep my balance.

"We're going home," he said in a hard voice. _Why was Fang being so mean? _I thought.

"Noooooo, Fang, I don't wanna," I said.

"Come on, Max," he coaxed, holding his hand out to me. I grabbed it and started giggling.

"Fang, I don't wanna go home, it's so boring," I complained.

"Who gave you beer?" he asked.

"Ummm, those soccer players when were playing truth or dare," I replied.

"Max, go get in the car, okay? I'll be right there," he said, opening the car door for me. I got in and sat down, and he closed the door. I turned on the radio, then starting dancing around.

**Fang's POV: **

I was leaning against the side of the stands, when Max walked over to me. She stumbled quite a bit, but when she got over here she leaned on the stand next to me and said, "Hey, Fang."

"Max, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"A-are you _drunk?_" I asked her.

"Noo, I'm just a little buzzed, Fangy," she replied. I grinded my teeth. Who gave her beer? And more importantly, why did she take it?

"We're going home." I said in a hard voice.

"Noooooo, Fang, I don't wanna," she whined.

"Come on, Max," I coaxed her, hoping she would just come with me.

"Fang, I don't wanna go home, it's so boring," she complained, and pulled on my hand.

"Who gave you beer?" I asked, trying to keep my voice nice and quiet, so she wouldn't think I was mad at her. I wasn't; I was mad at whatever douche's gave her beer. We aren't even allowed to have beer on school grounds.

"Ummmm, those soccer players over there," she said, indicating the guys she was talking to before.

"Max, get in the car, okay? I'll be right there." I asked her, opening the passenger door and helping her in. She nodded, and I closed the door. I started walking back towards the stadium and I let my rage consume me. I walked over to the soccer players and punched James in the face.

"Dude, what the hell?" he asked, holding his eye. He tried hitting me, but missed every time. His friends tried to help, but they barely landed any hits on me. By the time the fight was done, a couple guys had black eyes, others had broken noses or probably bruises in a lot of different faces.

While I walked back to the car, I texted Iggy, telling him that Max was sick and I was taking her home. He replied that it was okay and he would get a ride home from Ella, who he had found.

I got in the car and drove home, with Max sitting in the passenger seat dancing to the radio. When we got home I gave my parents and Ms. Martinez the same excuse I gave Iggy, that Max was sick. I got her upstairs and told her to go in the bathroom and change into pajamas. When she came back out, she was dressed in short shorts and a tank top.

"Fang, I don't feel good," she said. I grabbed a trash can, sat her on the couch, and put it near her while I got her some medicine and water. When I came back, she was leaning over the garbage can. I went and put the medicine and water on my desk and rubbed in between her shoulder blades, where I knew she liked it. When she finished, I handed her the water and the pills and she swallowed them.

"Okay, now lie down in my bed, Max." I said, helping her over to my bed. She got in and after I cleaned out the trash can, I went back over and checked on her. She seemed fine, so I went and changed into my pajamas, but I only had time to put my flannel pajama pants on before I heard Max being sick again. I went out and rubbed her back again, before going and turning out the light. I went over to the couch, but Max didn't want me to.

"Fang, where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to sleep here tonight; you can have the bed," I told her.

"I want you to sleep in the bed, too." She said.

"Max…" I replied. I didn't want to overstep any boundaries. She was, after all, drunk.

"Please," she begged. I sighed and got in the bed next to her.

"Fangy, you're so nice," she said.

"Yeah, now go to sleep, Max," I replied.

"Love you, Fang," I thought I heard her mumble, before she rolled onto her side and went to sleep.

She probably just said it because she's drunk, I told myself. But I couldn't stop thinking, what if she loved me back?

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I'm in school, gah! It's so stressful! Anyway, I'm so proud of myself, I finished this within two and a half hours in one sitting. But anyway people had some questions about the last chapter. **

**Some people were wondering why Fang and Max were together instead of the girls together and the boys together. Well, that is because Gazzy and Angel share a room, and they have two sets of bunk beds, so Nudge and Iggy share the other set of bunk beds because they are siblings. Her mother was going to be on the couch because, well, it would be a little awkward if she shared a room with some of the kids. So the only other place was Fang's room for Max. I know it was kind of weird and not something likely to happen, but Max and Fang's parents trust them, and honestly they couldn't really do anything else. **

**Iggy was just experimenting with bombs when the bomb went off. It was just an accident, and he didn't think that would happen. **

**The scientist did what he did to her because ITEX is how it was in Maximum Ride without the really bad experiments. He was experimenting with a new super medicine, and he wanted to test it out on someone to see if it worked. He saw a little girl, alone, and he knew she would trust him, so he used her. ITEX did not tell him to, want him to, or know about him doing what he did. Basically, he was just a sicko. **

**Sam asked Max out because he had heard a lot about her and, as much as you probably don't want it to, but she was the new girl, and Sam is the type of guy that needs a girlfriend at all times, and he needed someone new. She is pretty, and popular (even if it's not the usual, cheerleader type of popular), which he likes. He's pretty much a brainless pretty boy who wanted a girlfriend.**

**And thanks to everyone for the reviews, I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for the people who follow the story, and I'm sorry for the long wait. Review please for quicker updates!**


	7. Author's Note So Sorry!

**Authors Note:**

**I am soooooo sorry. I haven't posted a chapter for like 6 months. I had a lot going on, but I'm hoping to continue writing and hoping that none of you have given up on me yet. I understand if you have, though.**

** First off, I started high school, and with my accelerated classes, there has been more work than I expected. And as much as I would much rather love to be writing than working on homework and projects, I've been struggling to keep my grades up. I've also had my first exams ever. So it's been pretty stressful.**

** Other than the high school thing, the reason I haven't been writing is that I have been having some medical issues. I was diagnosed with having migraines and I also get these other weird things, they are really short, sudden, painful headaches, but they are so quick you don't have time to even take anything before they are gone. So I've been going to doctors and trying to figure out what they are. **

** Anyway, enough with the excuses. I am planning on continuing the story. I have been writing and I have a lot of ideas for this story. I just recently wrote an extra long chapter and I'm hoping to write chapters together and then post on weekends. **

** So, I just want to say, I'm really sorry (again) about not updating. Thank you to everyone who is still with me. **

**:)**


	8. Chapter 7

I woke up, in bed, next to Fang. Now don't jump to conclusions or anything, it's not like that. Our clothes were on, and I had a pounding headache. I got out of bed and hurriedly ran to the bathroom and threw my guts up. I found a glass near the sink, filled it with water and gulped it down. I repeated this again, until my throat didn't feel dry anymore. Then I went back into Fang's room and lied down on the couch. Before I knew it I was asleep again.

I woke up about three hours later, around 1:00, and took a shower and changed into a sweatshirt and jeans. After I was finished I went downstairs and made a sandwich. That was when I noticed the house was way to quiet, especially when nine people are living in this house. I looked around and found a note on the table.

_Dear Max, We all went out for lunch, but we didn't want to wake you. Fang told us you were sick and so we decided to let you sleep. Help yourself to whatever you want. We should be back around 3:00. Angel and Gazzy are at a friends house, so they will probably be home after us. Total is getting groomed, so he won't be there, either. Enjoy having the house to yourself! Feel better!_

_ ~Nancy_

I sighed and then looked at the note again. "Fang told us you were sick" did not make sense. Then I actually started to think about last night and groaned.

"I am so stupid!" I said, and hitting my head with the palm of my hand.

"I know you are, but for what now?" asked someone behind me. I jumped and spun around.

"Jeez, Fang, could you like, I don't know, make a noise or something? You scared me half to death." I said, putting a hand over my heart.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"I got out of lunch early so I could take care of you, since you're 'sick'." He replied, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Hey!" I said, smacking him.

"Wha'?" he said around him mouthful of my sandwich.

"That was my sandwich!" I said, smacking him again.

"I was hungry," he replied, swallowing.

"So, you told them I was sick?" I asked.

"Yeah," was his oh so descriptive reply.

"I was so stupid," I replied.

"Yeah, you were," he said.

"Well, I'm going to make another sandwich," I said, sticking out my tongue at him. He shrugged and went into the living room and turned on the TV.

**Max POV:**

I woke up to the annoying, persistent alarm clock of Fang's. I had slept in Fang's bed with him again that night, after having another nightmare. He hugged me and comforted me, then let me get into bed with him. I had fallen asleep quickly after that, in Fang's arms. For some reason I felt completely safe whenever I was with Fang.

So, anyway, I woke up and the stupid alarm was beeping. I tried to reach over Fang, but completely failed. So, I tried something different.

"Fang, wake up," I whispered. Nothing.

"Faaang," I tried again.

"Fang, time to wake up," I said, grabbing his arm and trying to remove it from my waist. Suddenly he rolled over on top of me and pinned my arms above my head.

"Now why do you keep trying to get to that damn alarm clock?" he asked, grinning.

"It woke me up, and I'm still tired," I replied, smiling back at him. Without moving his eyes from mine, he reached over and turned the alarm off.

"You know, it's only 8:00, it shouldn't even be legal to be awake at this hour," I said.

"Your right, now if you will stop disturbing me while I try to sleep, then we would be all good then, wouldn't we?" he asked.

"It was your alarm, not me! I was just trying to shut it up, but you were in the way." I explained.

"Sure, if that's what your going with," he replied, rolling off me.

"You talk about disturbing you while your sleeping, next time I'll just draw a mustache and unibrow on your face with Sharpie," I mumbled, rolling to lay on my side.

When I woke up three hours later, it was to Fang shaking me awake.

"Max, wake up," he said.

"Idonwanna," was my mumbled reply.

"I will push you off this bed if you don't get up," he replied.

"Yeah, right," I said.

"Max, you get your cast off today," he whispered.

"…Fine," I said, throwing the covers off me and standing up. He smirked and got up, too. After pulling my tank top back down where it had ridden up, I walked over to Fangs closet and looked around my stuff. After finding an outfit, I went into the bathroom, took my shower, and put on my purple racer back and shorts. I ran downstairs, almost running into Iggy, and hopped onto the counter.

"So, who's driving me to the hospital to get my cast off?" I asked. Of course, everyone sort of mumbled and walked off.

"Sorry, honey, I'm working," said my mom, grabbing her keys and walked out the door.

"Iggy? Fang?" I asked, walking into the living room after them.

"Uh, do I have to, Max? I was going to go to the mall." Iggy said.

"Seriously? I can't drive myself to the hospital. We can go to the mall after." I said.

"Fine. Fang, you in?" asked Iggy.

"Sure," he replied, turning the TV off. After grabbing some money, I got in the backseat of Iggys Jeep Wrangler and we took off to the hospital to get my cast off. After that was done, he drove us to the mall and the guys took off to the video game store while I went in Forever 21. I bought a pair of shoes and a couple tees, and then met up with the guys.

"Hey, look at that thing!" I said, pointing to a giant rock climbing thing in the middle of the walkway in the mall.

"Awesome," said Iggy, walking over to it.

"How much to climb it?" I asked the guy.

"5 bucks, but I doubt you can climb it," he replied. I gave him a crumpled $5.00 bill and went over to get the harness attached. Once that was over and Fang and Iggy joined me on the other sides of the wall, we started. I scrambled up, determined to win. I punched the button at the top just a second before Fang. Iggy was still a little behind.

"Shit!" Iggy yelled, and then started to climb down. I didn't bother climbing down, I just held onto the rope thing that attached the harness to the top and kicked off the wall until I reached the bottom.

"I get to drive home!" I yelled, running towards the door. Both Iggy and Fang followed close behind, and when we got to the Jeep, Iggy informed me that it was a standard, which I couldn't drive. But, I at least got to sit in the passenger seat.

"Max, let's go to the mall!" said Nudge, standing in front of the TV.

"No," I said, almost having to sit in Fang's lap to see the TV.

"But there's a party Saturday and you don't have anything to wear!" she exclaimed, like it was a national crisis.

"You went in my room?" asked Fang, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, and for good reason! That closet is pretty much one color, black! I expect that from you, Fang, but it is not acceptable for Max!" she ranted.

"Wait, how do you even know about a high school party?" I asked her.

"I'm in the eighth grade, I'm not stupid!" she sighed.

"Whatever, I'm not going to a stupid party with no one I know," I told her.

"Fang will be there, and you guys can bring your friends," she argued.

"Ugh, fine, I'll take you to the mall, but we aren't buying anything I don't like," I said, getting off the couch.

"Sure, Max," she replied, walking off. I turned to Fang.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nudge, I will find something at home!" I said.

"But-" she started.

"No! You get to pick out one thing, and that's it," I said sternly. She pouted, but stalked off to find something for me. When she came back with a cropped lace see through shirt, I agreed just to get her off my back.

"You are going to look so hot! And please let me do your hair. No offense, but you probably wouldn't do anything with it. Actually, if I let you, you would probably go to the party in your school clothes," she said, shuddering.

"What's wrong with my school clothes?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just a party is a party, and school is school. You don't mix two things that don't go together. They are completely opposite, so you wouldn't wear casual school clothes to a party would you? Well, you would. Anyway, people don't want to see you wearing what you wore to school 5 hours before," she explained.

"Well I think that's kind of stupid," I said.

"You would," she sighed.

"Max, hurry up!" Nudge yelled. I was in Fang's room, lying horizontally on his bed, listening to music with him.

"When do you think she'll realize I'm not actually changing?" I asked him, reaching over to skip a song I didn't like.

"I'm surprised she didn't figure it out when she realized I was in here," he said, chuckling.

"Yeah, well she probably thought I was in the bathroom or something. I don't think I have much time left," I sighed.

"MAX," she yelled again. "You have two minutes until I come in, whether you're changing or not!"

"Shit!" I exclaimed. Fang chucked as I jumped up from the bed and searched through the piles of clothes until I found a white tank and skinny jeans.

"Have you seen that lace shirt?" I asked Fang, throwing clothes around.

"Nope," he said, putting his earbuds in. I finally found it and ran into the bathroom and quickly changed.

"Where are my-" I began, but before I could finish the question, Fang threw a pair of high heeled black boots at me.

"Thanks," I replied. I was just pulling the first boot on when Nudge threw open the door.

"You still aren't done yet?" she asked.

"Just putting the other boot on," I replied. After I zipped the second boot up, she grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bathroom she shared with Angel and Gazzy.

She had a straightener, curling iron, black nail polish, and different make up set out on the counter. She pushed me into the chair she had set in front of the mirror that was really the desk chair.

"You're not allowed to look until the end," she explained, turning the chair around so I couldn't see the mirror. I sighed; knowing there was no arguing with her and just closed my eyes and put my earbuds in.

"Okay, Max, are you ready?" asked Nudge about an hour later. My nails were painted black, and from what I could tell, my hair was curled into loose waves down my back. I nodded and turned around. I had a metallic grey eye shadow on, black eye liner, long lashes, and my lips had a little tint of red to them. Also, she had put blush on me. I looked great. I was right about my hair; it was wavy, but it was swept onto one shoulder and it looked really good that way.

"I look great," I said, kind of surprised. "Thanks, Nudge." She nodded before pushing me out of the bathroom. I walked back into Fang's room and waited until he was ready and he drove us to the party.

Once we got there, it was chaotic. The music was super loud, and all the furniture was pushed against the walls to make a sort of dance floor in the living room. Megan's house, the girl who threw the party, was huge, so there was enough room for everyone, but just barely. In the kitchen there were a bunch of different drinks, mostly alcoholic. Once Fang and I walked in, we went to the kitchen. We both got a bottle of water before looking around for our friends.

"Max!" someone yelled. I turned around and saw Jade waving at me. I waved back and she walked over.

"Hey guys, I didn't know you were coming," she said, giving me a hug.

"Well, we really didn't have a choice. Nudge made us," I said.

"You mean your thirteen year old sister?" she asked.

"She's vicious," Fang said, making Jade giggle. Wait, giggle? Jade never giggled.

"She kidnapped me and did this," I said, pointing at my face and hair.

"Well she did a good job. Next time there's a party she can kidnap me," she said.

"Well, I'm sure she'll like having a Barbie, because I'm sick of it," I replied. "

"Ohh, I love this song! Come on, let's dance!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulled me into the living room. I shot Fang an apologetic look for abandoning him, but he just shook his head.

So, Jade dragged me into the living room and we started dancing. The song was Dynamite by Taio Cruz. We danced for a while, and when Elizabeth and Amanda got here, they joined us. Soon we were all thirsty, so we walked into the kitchen and got drinks. Elizabeth's boyfriend, Daniel, joined us, too.

"Oh, Max, Danny and I have someone who we want you to meet," said Elizabeth.

"Who?" I asked, guarded. I didn't miss the evil gleam in her eye.

"Oh, just a friend of Danny's," she said nonchalantly.

"No," I replied.

"Come on, Max! It's not like we're arranging a marriage for you, all you have to do is meet you. He wants to meet you, too. And, he's really cute. His name is Chance." She said.

"Fine," I sighed. Elizabeth squealed and led me over to a group of guys.

"Hey, Chance, this is Max," said Elizabeth. Chance moved away from the group and toward us.

I had to admit, he was cute. He had blonde, sort of spiky hair; he was tall, and dressed in a plaid shirt with a plaid white tee under it and jeans.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied. _Wow, Max, hi? How original,_ I thought.

"So you're the famous Max that I've been hearing so much about?" he asked.

"Apparently, although I have no idea what they've been telling you. I hope it was good," I said.

"Oh, it was. But you're even more beautiful than they said," he said, winking. I couldn't help but blush.

"Why don't you guys go dance?" asked Elizabeth. Chance held out his hand to me and I grabbed it. He led me to the dance floor and we started dancing to Raise Your Glass by Pink.

**Fang POV:**

Once Elizabeth asked Max to meet someone, I knew something was off. She had an evil look on. I think Max could tell too, but she went with her anyway.

"Hey, who is Elizabeth making Max meet?" I asked Daniel.

"Chance Anderson, she thinks that they should date," he replied, rolling his eyes. I looked over and saw Elizabeth drag Max towards a tall guy with blonde spiky hair. They started talking and I saw Max blush before Chance led her off towards the living room.

I didn't realize that I was clenching my fists until the plastic cup I was holding was crushed.

"Fang, what's wrong, dude?" asked Iggy.

"Nothing," I said, throwing the cup away. "I just need a drink."

I went and got another beer, trying not to watch Max and that guy. His hands were on her waist, and he would sometimes lean down and whisper in her ear. She had a smile on her face. It made me sick, but I just kept drinking.

**Max POV:**

I danced with Chance for most of the night after Elizabeth introduced us. But after about an hour, we went in the kitchen to get drinks.

"You want a beer?" asked Chance.

"Sure," I replied. Chance got both of us a beer and we walked over to find our friends. When we finally spotted Elizabeth and Danny, I could tell something was wrong. She was frowning, but trying not to show it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Fang is really drunk," she whispered, shooting a glance at Fang. I looked over. He had a grim look on his face and was drinking.

"Let me talk to him," I said. "I'll be right back." I walked over to Fang, who was sitting by himself.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Nothing. Why don't you go back to your boyfriend and just leave me alone," he said. That stung.

"Why? I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me why you're acting like this," I said. He just sat there and ignored me. Annoyed, I grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"What the hell, Max? I told you to leave me alone!" he slurred.

"Well, when do I ever listen to anyone?" I asked, pulling him along behind me. I stopped when I got over to our group, who had been watching the whole thing with Fang.

"We're leaving. I'm sorry. Chance, you have my number right? Call me, okay?" I said. He nodded.

I sighed and pulled Fang along. I was honestly surprised he didn't just stop me. When we finally got to the car, Fang tried to get in the drivers seat.

"Fang, you can't drive. You're too drunk," I said.

"No, I'm not," he replied.

"Yes, you are," I argued. We kept that up for a while before he finally gave in.

"Where are your keys?" I asked.

"If I don't get to drive, you don't either," he said. I sighed, knowing he wouldn't willingly give me the keys.

"Fang, don't be stupid," I said.

"Stupid? No, I'm not being stupid, you are! You can't see what's right in front of you!" he yelled. He had walked towards me so much that I was pressed up against the car. His hands were on either side of my head. I swallowed. Then I quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys.

"Get in the car," I said quietly. I was surprised when he actually listened and walked around the car and got in the passengers' seat. As I drove us home, all I could think of was what he said about me not seeing what was right in front of my eyes. I had no idea what he was talking about.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Sorry guys, this will be real quick; I just want to get a few things off my chest. Recently I haven't gotten very nice reviews. I know that you're just critiquing me and everything, and not everyone will like the story, but it is MY story, not yours. So if you don't think Max should have done something, or Fang would never do this, then write your own story. I wrote this with my ideas, and you can respect that or stop reading. **

**And I would like people to remember this: this story is ALL HUMAN! That means, despite Max being pretty strong, she is still a girl, and still human. So, for example, from chapter 3, when Dylan attacked Max, of course he isn't going to move much, he is a guy, and she is a girl. She does NOT have superhuman strength.**

**And as for Max getting a Porsche, it is a STORY. I didn't realize that I would have to make up a whole back story for a car, but here it goes. Jeb is rich, because he works at ITEC, which is a huge corporation. Max's Mom has been saving money for a while to get her a car. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision, they had known about it for over a year. **

**Now on with the story!**

Fang POV:

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the clock, which read 10:37. Then I realized Max wasn't in bed with me. I looked around and spotted her sleeping on the couch. I couldn't remember why. Ugh, this is going to be a long day.

Max POV:

I woke up around eleven and took a shower. Fang had already left his room, so I was assuming he was downstairs playing video games with Iggy.

"What did I say to her?" I heard Fang asked as I began walking down the stairs. I stopped and listened for a second.

"You said something about her not seeing what was in front of her. And you kept calling Chance her boyfriend. You yelled at her," replied Iggy.

"Shit," Fang replied.

"What did you even mean by that?" asked Iggy.

"I-I don't know; I was drunk." Fang replied.

"Bullshit. Even when you're drunk, you have a reason to say something." Replied Iggy.

"Well, I don't have one," Fang replied.

"Whatever, man," replied Iggy.

I was in the living room, pigging out on cookies that Iggy had made before while watching Scooby Doo. Just as it was getting to the good part, my phone rang.

"This better be good, I was just about to find out who Monster Mut really was," I said, answering the phone without looking at the caller ID.

"It's Dimwitty," Jade replied in a monotone.

"Bitch, you ruined it!" I exclaimed.

"Whatever, you've seen it a hundred times," replied Jade.

"Not this one! It was from 1984!" I shot back.

"So what? Anyway, I'm going over to your house tonight," she said, changing the subject.

"As long as you get the movies on your way here," I replied.

"Sure. Horror tonight or action?" she asked.

"Hold on, let me ask Fang and Iggy," I replied. I moved the phone away from my mouth.

"FANG! IGGY! DO YOU WANT HORROR OR ACTION TONIGHT?" I yelled to them upstairs.

"ACTION!" Iggy yelled back.

"Action," I repeated to Jade. "And you might as well pick up Ella, too."

"Sure, I'll be there in an hour," she said, hanging up.

And sure enough, an hour later, Jade walked in the door with Ella, their overnight bags, and a Blockbuster bag, yelling, "I'M HOME!"

After putting her stuff in Fang's room, we got the guys and went back downstairs. After deciding there was absolutely nothing to do, we all decided to go for a ride.

"Max, you can't go out wearing that," Jade said, looking at my tee and sweatshirt that I was wearing.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Are you serious?" asked Ella.

"I don't care what people think, I'm comfortable!" I argued.

"We aren't going until you change," Jade said, crossing her arms. I glared at her until I decided it was pointless and agreed to let her pick out my outfit.

When we got up to Fang's room, she tossed a pair of jeans at me and a black cropped top that said "Freakin Mind Reader" on it. I put on a pair of Converse and we were out the door.

Fang drove while I rode shotgun, with Ella, Iggy, and Jade in the back. Jade was taking pictures of her, Iggy, and Ella in the back. We decided to stop at the park and we all got out and ran around a while. Iggy and Ella were sitting on a park bench and Iggy had his arm around her while Jade kept bugging them by taking pictures. Fang and I were sitting on the swings watching our friends and laughing.

"I bet I can go higher than you," Fang said with a smirk on his face. That bastard knew that I couldn't resist a challenge.

"Bet you can't," I replied, pumping my legs. He did the same and soon we were up really high.

"Hey, guys, they kicked me away from that side of the park, so I'm here to bug you!" Jade announced happily. She started taking pictures of us.

"Hey, if you don't stop it, we'll kick you away from this side too, you whore!" I yelled, laughing.

"Bitch," she replied, stopping and walking around the swing set to stand behind us.

"I win," said Fang. I sighed as I realized he was right.

"3…" I began.

"2…" Fang continued.

"1…!" I yelled, and Fang and I jumped off the swings at the same time. We landed next to each other and ran over to the carousel thing. I jumped on and grabbed one of the handles while Fang spun us around before jumping on.

After a while on there (Fang spinning us, me standing in the middle, and Jade running around it trying to take pictures) we decided to go to the beach a little further south of the playground. When we got there, we all stuck our feet in the water.

"Max, how much would you give me if I went in the water?" asked Jade.

"Why should I give you my money for catching hypothermia?" I asked.

"Well, we could just put you in the water," said Fang, grabbing me around the waist.

"NO!" I shrieked, clawing at his arm, but he still held me as he walked across the shore and onto the dock. He walked down the dock until we were at the edge.

"So who's your best friend?" asked Fang, dangling my legs over the edge.

"You are," I said, kicking my legs and trying to get back up.

"You passed," he said, carrying me away from the edge and letting me go. I ran back up to the shore before they could get me again.

"Oh, Max, I have a great idea!" yelled Jade, running behind me.

"No," I replied, knowing her "good idea" would most likely involve something I don't want to do.

"Please?" she begged.

"No!" I said again.

"You haven't even heard it yet," she replied.

"Fine, what is it?" I asked.

"You could be my model for my photography project," said Jade.

"You're on crack, aren't you? Probably not even the good kind." I said.

"But you can do all your flips and stuff," she said.

"Find someone else that can. Fang can, I think," I said, throwing Fang under the bus.

"You both can! Please? I'm failing this class and I really need to get a good grade!" she pleaded, giving me Bambi eyes. Damn, has she been hanging out with Nudge?

"Fine," I agreed, regretting it instantly.

"Yes!" she yelled.

"Just shut up and tell me what to do!" I yelled, walking away from her.

"Okay, turn around and just do some of your tricks!" she yelled.

I turned around. "Tricks?" I asked.

"Stunts, whatever, you know what I mean," she said, getting her camera ready. I nodded and did two flips in a row. After that, I just did whatever. This went on for about an hour before I decided I was tired of it. We all stopped at Burger King to eat, then went back to Fang's house (with our BK crowns of course).

Even though it was only about 7:15, we decided to get in our pajamas and watch the movies Jade brought, which included Zombieland, Prince of Persia, Sherlock Holmes, and Taken.

All the girls went up to my (Fang's) room to change while we kicked Fang out and made him change in the room Iggy was sharing. My pajamas were a sort of low cut white tank top with Hello Kitty on it and matching black and white plaid pajama pants. Jades were a black, lime green, pink, and blue button down long sleeve top with a matching pair of shorts, and Ella's were a black and white Hello Kitty top and black and white pants that said Hello Kitty in different fonts.

We went downstairs and set the DVD up and when the boys came down in their pajamas we made them make popcorn. Once they were finished with the popcorn, we all got settled in, with Ella and Iggy on the loveseat, Fang and I on the couch, and Jade on the floor. Once everyone was settled, we started the first DVD, Zombieland. Iggy got scared during the part with the giant zombie in the grocery store and hid behind Ella, who was laughing at him. Jade, Fang, and I laughed through it, though. Once we finished that we put in Prince of Persia.

"Ohh, I wish I lived in Persia," said Jade, watching Jake Gyllenhaal. I rolled my eyes as she drooled over him for the next half of the movie.

"Another movie, or something else?" asked Ella, once the movie was over.

"I vote for something else," said Jade, standing up and stretching.

"What are we going to do?" asked Fang.

"You shouldn't have said that," I whispered to him.

"Why not?" he asked, just as Jade announced, "Truth or dare!"

"That's why," I replied, sighing.

So, we all got into a circle on the floor.

"I'm going first!" Jade announced.

"But I wanted to," pouted Iggy.

"Too bad, I thought of it first!" said Jade, sticking her tongue out at him.

"So, Ella, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth," she said.

"What is your secret favorite movie no one knows you watch?" Jade asked.

"Snow White," answered Ella, blushing.

"Okay, Ella's turn!" said Jade.

"Hmm. Iggy, truth or dare?" asked Ella.

"Dare," Iggy replied.

"Go over to the neighbors house and talk to them until they slam the door in your face," said Ella, smiling. Iggy got up silently, walked out the door, and over to the neighbors house. We all clamored to the window and watched as Iggy knocked on the door and the neighbors opened. He lasted about five minutes until they made an excuse, apparently. After Iggy was back, he asked Fang.

"Truth or dare, Max and Fang?" asked Iggy.

"What? You can't do that," I said.

"Okay, let's vote. Who thinks I should be able to dare both Max and Fang at the same time?" asked Iggy. Ella and Jade both raised their hands.

"Are you serious?" asked Fang.

"Of course. Okay, so truth or dare?" asked Iggy.

"Dare," I said instantly. I was the queen of truth or dare.

"I dare you to be handcuffed to each other for the next 24 hours," said Iggy, smirking. I gapped at him.

"You're crazy right?" I asked.

"Not any more than I normally am," Iggy replied.

"So you are," I said.

"Ha ha. You still have to take the dare," he said. I sighed.

"Fine, I will if Fang will," I said, turning to him. He shrugged.

"Okay, let me get my handcuffs," said Iggy, jumping up and running upstairs.

"How did Iggy get handcuffs?" asked Jade.

"I have no idea," I replied, just as Iggy came running back downstairs with a pair of red fuzzy handcuffs.

"Where the hell did you get those?" I asked.

"You don't get to ask questions," Iggy replied, taking my wrist and closing the cuff around it. He then grabbed Fang's wrist and handcuffed him.

"Okay, so it's me and Fang's turn to dare someone?" I asked. Iggy nodded. I stood up, dragging Fang with me, and walked over to the corner.

"I have the perfect dare," I said.

"You have that evil look on your face," Fang replied.

"Do you want to know the dare or what?" I asked. He nodded, so I whispered it to him. He nodded, and I dragged him back to the circle.

"What? You're insane!" said Iggy.

"Do I've been told, but that doesn't get you out of the dare," I said.

"I hate you," said Ella.

"Jeez, it's like everything is on repeat. Now go!" I said, shooing Iggy and Ella off. After about five minutes they both came back and everyone started laughing.

"This isn't funny!" Ella said, blushing.

"I'm sorry, but yes it is!" I exclaimed in between fits of laughter. I was laughing so hard that I basically collapsed into Fang's lap because of the handcuffs. Even he was snickering.

**A/N: If you want to know what the dare was, review and I'll tell you! I aim for 57 reviews by the next chapter, which is currently in progress.**


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